Saturday, April 30, 2011

Reading Review: Vocabulary!

Political Culture-way of thinking about how political and economic life should be carried out.
Political Ideology-set of beliefs about what policies the government should pursue.
Equality of Opportunity- Gives people an equal chance to succeed.
Equality of Results- Making certain people get the same result.
Civic Duty- Belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs.
Progressive Culture- Belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion.
Orthodox Culture-  morality and religion should be of decisive importance.
Political Efficacy- Belief that you can take part in politics.
Middle America- Average middle class americans.
Silent Majority- large amount of people in a country or group who do not express their views publicly.
SES- Measures a person's work experience and family economics compared to that of others.
Christian Coalition- Offers people of faith the opportunity to have an impact on issues they care about.
Gender Gap- Difference in political views between men and women.
Liberal- Favorable to change and reform. Opposite of conservative.
Conservative-open to change and holds to traditional views.
Libertarian- Upholds individual liberty
Populist- Member of a political party that represents the interest of ordinary people.
Political Elite- Person with disproportionate share of political power.
New Class- Describes the ruling class of beauracrats and communist party functionaries which usuallt arise in a stalin communist state.
New Deal Coalition- Alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the new deal.
Random Sample- every person has an equal chance.
Sampling Error- Difference in results when a random sample is taken at the same time.
Weighting-adjustment made in order to take account of special circumstances.
Quota Sample- Created by gathering a number of people from categories.
Focus Groups- Diverse group of people brought together to provide inscentive.
Instant Response Polling- designed to get instant results.
Push Poll- attempts to influence people under the guise of doing a poll.
Bandwagon Effect- People that will do something jsut because others do it.
Refusal Rate- Proportion of people who refuse to give up the sought information.
Exit Polls- based on interviews held on election day with randomly selected voters.
Tracking Poll- Conducted each day to assess trends caused by advertising
Skewed Question- A question that creates wrong results.
Context Effect- People behave differently in different situations.
Question Framing- How a surveyor decides to ask for data.
Saliency- Degree to which an issue is important to an individual of a group.
Help America Vote Act 2002- Helped make the voting system less complex.
Moter Voter Law- Enables prospective voters to register when they get a license.
15th amendment- Prohibits denial to vote based on race, sex, or ethnicity.
Literacy Test- citizens must show they can read before registering to vote.
Poll Tax- citizens pay a tax before registering to vote.
Grandfather Clause- If your grandfather could vote you can vote.
White Primary- Practice of keeping blacks from voting
Voting Rights Act 1965- Outlawed voting discrimination.
19th amendment- cannot be denied to vote based on sex.
Voting Rights Act 1970- No prerequisites for voting.
26th amendment- voting age to 18.
23rd amendment- Citizens of the District of Columbia can vote.
Disfranchisement- revocation of the right to vote by someone.
Australian Ballot- reduce fraud in voting.
Activist- People who participate in all forms of politics.
Demographics- Characteristics of the human population.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Is It Over?

What is the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy?

Don't Ask, Don't tell is pretty self-explanatory. It refers to gay, lesbian and bisexual members of the military who wish to keep their sexuality private. (Homosexuals are denied acceptance into the military). 


"Don't Ask" simply means that military officials should not question or pester members of the military about their sexuality. "Don't Tell" means exactly that.


A Pentagon study released on Tuesday concluded that gay troops could serve openly without hurting the ability of the United States armed forces to fight. Recently, senate has been pushed and pressured to repeal the policy. They justify this by saying a person's sexuality will not affect their ability to fight for our country.



US Defense Secretary, Gates, as well as teh Pentagon study agree that the policy should be removed.

President Obama on Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell


How Does This Relate to Class?

This relates to class because it deals with decisions that must be made. Depending on different political beliefs and political ideologies, people may feel differently about repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.


Questions to Think About:

* How do you feel about the policy?
* If you were a gay, lesbian, or bisexual wanting to enlist in the military, how would you feel? Is this in any way a violation of your rights?

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Affirmative Action-Is It The End?

What Is Affirmative Action?      


 When thinking about affirmative action, we can often associate it with race, ethnicity, skin color, religion, and many other types of discrimination. However, the most common form of affirmative action involves race and skin color in an attempt to provide "equal opprotunity". It was originally created to achieve a level of non-discrimination. Over the years, affirmative action has provided great educational opprotunities for minorities.

More Information on Affirmative Action:

In the following video from the CNN website, we can see how Affirmative Action has contributed to the variance of race throughout the years.


Sonia Sotomayer is one of many examples of a "product" of Affirmative Action. You can see that many people of many different races in America have different thoughts on Affirmative Action. While some will agree that affirmative action has given opprotunity to minorities, those same people will also agree that affirmative action has done its job and should be terminated.

Recently, many have talked about ending Affirmative Action. Many have also said that Affirmative Action should have never been put into effect.

What Do I Think?
I think that Affirmative Action is a great way to ensure that all races are treated equally. Eventually, it will be necessary to end Affirmative Action and learn to provide equal opportunity for everyone without it being a requirement. While we are taking small steps to completely eliminating racial discrimination, we still have a long way to go and we will definitely need assistance.



Monday, February 28, 2011

Video Games and Violence: Is There an Association?

Now a days, there are so many different types of video games. But we cant help but notice that one genre produces more interest than the other. Yes indeed, we're talking about violent video games. 

 What is it Doing to our Kids?
Kids start playing these games that involve shooting, killing, stealing, etc. at very young ages. This presents them with the thoughts and ideas that what the video game characters are doing is "cool". Certain video games often portray men as "pimps" and women as the object of sexual attraction. These women are usually not fully clothed and are dressed in an extremely provocative way. This can give young men the idea that it is okay to disrespect and degrade women; and can give girls the idea that is okay to dress the same way as the character.







 Something Else?


Not only is the treatment of women detrimental to the minds of children, but also the misuse of drugs, alcohol, and weapons. The kids are generally in charge of weapons and how to use them. This makes them think it is cool to shoot guns, use knives, etc. 


Proven Statistics!
 *  More than 70 percent of American teenage boys have played the violent and adult-rated Grand Theft Auto video game, and those teens are more likely to have been in a fight than those who have not played.
* In 98 percent of the games surveyed, aggression went unpunished.  In fact, in more than half the video games the perpetrators were rewarded for their aggressive actions.
*  Nearly 50 percent of violence in video games is found to be "humorous".


Links!
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversy
2. http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_and_video_games_playing_with_violence


Grand Theft Auto

Questions:
1. Do you think playing these games in excessive amounts affects your social skills?
2. How much time a day do you spend playing video games? Is this amount healthy?
 



More in Depth With The Secretary of State!

What is the Secretary of State?
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State.

What types of job does being Secretary of State include?
- supervises foregin affairs
- Custody of the Great Seal of the United States

A lot of the Secretary of State's job includes dealing with multiple issues concerning foreign affairs.

Past Secretaries of State:
- Condoleezza Rice
- Colin Powell
- Madeleine Albright
- Warren Christopher

Our current secretary of state is Hillary Clinton.



Links:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Secretaries_of_State_of_the_United_States
2. http://usgovinfo.about.com/

Questions:
1. What are your thoughts on the difficulty of the Secretary of State's job?
2. How important is the Secretary of State to the president?


Relation to Class:
We've been discussing the different member of the Presidential Cabinet.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Let's Meet The Presidential Cabinet!

 Presidential Cabinets
What is a presidential cabinet? A Presidential Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of the government, typically representing the executive branch. It is also sometimes called and Executive Council. What does the president's cabinet do? In a nutshell, the president's cabinet advises him and helps him to implement his new policies, etc. . .
Let's Meet Barack's Cabinet

Some of the main parts of the cabinet include:
Secretary of State: Hilary Clinton
Department of Treasury: Timothy Geithner
Department of Defense: Dr. Robert M. Gates
Department of Justice: Eric Holder
Department of Agriculture (USDA): Tom Vilsack
Department of Commerce: Gary Locke
  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Kathleen Sebelius
Department of Education: Arne Duncan

President Obama With His Cabinet

Questions to think about: 
1. In your opinion, who is the most important cabinet member?

2. How would the president's job be affected if he did not have a cabinet?








The president speaks with his cabinet about some key issues.

How does the Presidents Cabinet relate to class?

We've been talking alot about the executive office and duties of the president.

More links to learn about the Presidential Cabinet:

1. http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/cabinet
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Cabinet









Monday, January 24, 2011

Women's Suffrage!

What is women's suffrage? Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. Did women always have the right to vote? Women have not always had the right to vote. In the United States, women could finally vote in 1920 at ages eighteen or older. Even when African-American males had the right to vote, women still could not vote. This includes white women as well as black women. How has women's suffrage affected the government today? In the present time, the right for women to vote is great. It presents a more accurate representation of the political views of the United States as a whole.

How Does This Connect to Class?
This connects to class because it deals with the voting rights guaranteed to us in the U.S Constitution.



Questions to Ponder:
1. How do you feel about the many women's suffrage movements?
2. Do you think it is fair for women to have the right to vote?

More Links For Women's Suffrage:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage
2. http://womenshistory.about.com/od/suffrage1900/a/august_26_wed.htm